A clash of contrasts as MI New York and Washington Freedom eye second title
There's however forecast for some showers on Sunday in Dallas
Deivarayan Muthu
12-Jul-2025 • 10 hrs ago
Kieron Pollard and Nicholas Pooran celebrate after putting MI New York in final • Sportzpics for MLC
Big picture: A clash of contrasts
"Not sure how we got to the final, but we're in the final now."
"In all honesty, we haven't played good cricket, and we shouldn't have been here. But we are here."
The reactions of captain Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard summed up MI New York's path to the MLC 2025 final after they had been teetering on the brink, having lost six of their first seven games. Then they suddenly made the playoffs and peaked there, emulating their parent franchise Mumbai Indians in the IPL, knocking out San Francisco Unicorns and Texas Super Kings to set up a final clash with Washington Freedom, who have been the form team throughout the tournament, with eight wins in ten league games.
It's a clash of contrasts in more ways than one. While MINY have relied on T20 superstars like Pooran, Pollard, Trent Boult and Quinton de Kock, Freedom have found success with less experienced names after their own big players - Steven Smith, Travis Head and Marco Jansen - were unavailable for their title defence.
Freedom also lost New Zealand quick Ben Sears to injury and his replacement Matthew Forde to the Global Super League (GSL) in Guyana along the way, but they found new heroes in allrounders Mitch Owen and Jack Edwards. Left-arm seamer Saurabh Netravalkar has had another productive out-of-office stint.
Lockie Ferguson has had his load managed upon his return from injury, but Ian Holland has stepped up with vital breakthroughs. After a crushing defeat to Unicorns - their margin of 123 runs in the biggest in the MLC - in their season-opener, Freedom have bounced back spectacularly under the leadership of Ricky Ponting and Glenn Maxwell.
While Pooran and Pollard have made the headlines for MINY's late dash, the team has also had contributions from the youngsters. Tristan Luus, who turned 20 last month, knocked Owen over with a 140kph dart on his MLC debut and went onto take out Faf du Plessis in Qualifier 2. Twenty-two-year-old Rushil Ugarkar, who was with MI at the IPL as a support player, has also thrived in MINY's attack in this MLC.
MINY's attack was severely depleted by the absence of Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai and Naveen-ul-Haq, but they have dug deep for a tilt at another title.
So, who will win their second MLC title on Sunday: MINY or Freedom?
Form guide
Washington Freedom:WWLWW (completed matches, most recent first)
MINY: WWLWW
MINY: WWLWW
In the spotlight: Mitch Owen and Monank Patel
Mitch Owen has been among the most sought-after T20 players around the world after his 39-ball century in the BBL final earlier this year in January. He has since made forays into the PSL, IPL and more recently at the MLC, where he has been utterly dominant with both bat and ball. Apart from hitting 313 runs in ten innings at a strike rate over 195, he has bagged 14 wickets at an economy of 8.96. Beware of Mitch, MINY.
Monank Patel hasn't been as destructive as Owen at the top, but his stable presence hasn't gone unnoticed. Patel currently has 450 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 143.31 and is 19 runs away from surpassing du Plessis as the top run-getter this season. There can't be a better advertisement for the MLC than an USA batter topping the run charts.
Team news: Ferguson set to play
Ferguson is being managed carefully by Freedom and New Zealand Cricket - he has also been rested for the upcoming T20I tri-series in Zimbabwe - but is likely to play the MLC final on Sunday.
Washington Freedom (probable): 1 Mitch Owen, 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Andries Gous (wk), 4 Glenn Maxwell (capt), 5 Glenn Phillips, 6 Mukhtar Ahmed, 7 Obus Pienaar, 8 Jack Edwards, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Ian Holland, Saurabh Netravalkar
There's no reason for MINY to make any changes unless there are any injury concerns.
MI New York (probable): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Monank Patel, 3 Michael Bracewell, 4 Nicholas Pooran (capt), 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Kunwarjeet Singh, 7 Tarjinder Singh, 8 Tristan Luus, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Nosthush Kenjige, 11 Rushil Ugarkar
Pitch and conditions: Rain threat hangs over final
There's forecast for some showers on Sunday in Dallas, with a 60% chance of rain in the night. With rain in the air, expect the team winning the toss to chase. When the two teams faced each other in the league phase, Dallas had rolled out a batting-friendly surface, where Freedom chased 189 with four balls to spare.
Stats and trivia: Sixy Pooran
- Pooran has clattered a chart-topping 73 sixes in 36 innings in T20 cricket in 2025. Owen is joint third on this list with 65 sixes in 29 innings.
- Pollard is currently the second-highest scorer in the history of T20 cricket with 13854 runs. Only Chris Gayle is ahead of him with 14562 runs.
- Besides being the top scorer among USA players in this season, Patel is also the top scorer among USA players overall in the league, with 646 runs in 25 innings at a strike rate of just under 130.
- Freedom have been the fastest-scoring team in the powerplay in this MLC, going at 10.44 during this phase. MINY are fourth at 8.02.
Quote
"We went to Miami, and we forgot about cricket. That was the best thing for us and then we turned up and [did] what was in front of us. Miami was refreshing for us; guys went to shop and retail therapy."
Kieron Pollard credits MINY's off-field activities for their on-field turnaround
Kieron Pollard credits MINY's off-field activities for their on-field turnaround
Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo